Giving the Gift of Wonder.full Moments

How often do you find yourself at a total loss over what to gift a close friend or family member? Lord knows we’ve all been in that quagmire, frustrated beyond words because we want our gift to capture the recipient’s interests and reflect our own creativity. 

We rack our brains replaying conversations in our heads, scouring for hints of needs or wants. We trek from shop to shop, hoping inspiration will kick in and we’ll unearth that perfect “aha” present. And in the end, after hours of aimless ambling about and finally homing in on something, anything, we hand it nervously to our beloved, muttering a prayer underneath our breaths.


Photo credit: www.budsies.com


It has to be easier, right? I mean, at Christmastime alone, we often have at least half a dozen presents to fetch, and two or three are real head-scratchers.

Saria Hanna Moutran must have suffered her fair share of gift-hunting before conjuring up a new approach called Wonder.full. The concept is fairly straightforward. You’re in a bind as to what to get your best friend, lover, mom, or colleague. But rather than lavish upon them some material banality, gift them an experience.

Those experiences fall under six unique categories: Gourmet, Adventure, Love, Glamour, Harmony, and Super Moms. Within each bracket, more than half a dozen activities exist, and it is wholly up to the recipient to take one up and exploit it within the one-year allotment.


Gift catalogs come in a tin box, and recipients can choose their own adventure


For example, consider the Gourmet catalog. There are two different price thresholds, $90 for “Yummy Gourmet” and $140 for “Fine Gourmet.”




If you’re a chocolate aficionado, you could engage in a one-on-one workshop with L’Atelier de Chocolat’s Pierre Abi Haila, crafting your own chocolate tablet under his guidance.

Whisky fans can benefit from a 2-hour whisky tasting and masterclass for two at The Malt Gallery, with a take-home bottle to boot.

How about a taste of Asia in an exclusive diner à deux courtesy of Chef Wael Ladkani at Jai Kitchen?

You could opt for a tour of Lebanon’s ultimate farmer’s market Souk el Tayeb and horde a basket of select products.

You could plan a day trip to Ammiq in the Bekaa region and gorge on lunch with a companion at Kamal Mouzawak’s acclaimed Tawlet.

You could rub shoulders with Chefs Nazira and Cynthia at their catering institution in Beit Mery.

Or you could do as I did and go explore Ixsir’s lush winery in the mountains of Batroun, where a swift tour and complimentary tasting of their Altitude, Grand Reserve, and EL labels will have you thirsting for more of the elixir.


The underground naturally cool wine cellar at Ixsir


Saria’s in the business of making memories through unforgettable experiences. In fact, each of the gifts she’s assembled in the Wonder.full repertoire reveals a carefully curated purveyor who knows his way around his field of expertise. Moreover, an unmistakable love of adventure and learning characterize each experience, which speak to the senses and elicit life’s small pleasures.

After all, as Wonder.full’s slogan so aptly goes, when was the last time you did something for the first time?

Check out the entire Wonder.full line of gifts here


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Comments

  1. I would love to give/receive one of these! The choices are just right!

    ReplyDelete

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